Carbon-sheet support for typewriters



March 14, 1944. c, w, BRUMHILL CARBON-SHEET SUPPORT FOR TYPEWRITERSFiled Jan. 30, 1942 12 Fig; 2.

Patented Mar. 14, 1944 CARBON-SHEET SUPPORT FOR TYPEWRITERS ClaudeWellington Brumhill, Leicester, England,

assignor to Imperial Typewriter 00.

Leicester, England Ltd.,

Application January 30, 1942, Serial No. 428,965 In Great BritainFebruary 26, 1941 8 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in and relating to carbon sheetsupports for typewriters, and is concerned with a carbon support of thetype adapted for use in the production of a plurality of carbon copieswherein carbon sheets are interleaved with paper sheets to traveltherewith towards the platen, comprising a trolley or other supportmember movable towards and away from the platen, and carbon blademounting means for removably receiving at different levels a pluralityof fingers or blades which extend across the path of movement of thetrolley and have the rear edges of the carbon sheets secured to them.Carbon supports of this type are commonly employed in continuousstationary typewriting machines; i. e., machines drawing their paper asa continuous multi-ply web from a bulk supply thereof (often a zig-zagpile). The web of paper is passed over the trolley or the like, and theblades, each with its attached carbon sheet, are inserted between theplies of paper and are attached to the carbon support so that thecarbons extend from the blades (between the plies of paper) towards theplaten. The interleaved paper and carbon is then taken around theplaten, so that as typing proceeds the carbons and the carriage aredrawn towards the platen with the paper. Subsequently, when it isdesired to tear off the typed length from the web or when the bladeshave been drawn up to the carriage, the feeding grip on the web isrelaxed and the trolley or the like is moved back carrying the carbonsheets with it.

The present invention provides in or for a typewriter, a carbon supportof the type specified having carbon blade mounting means arranged forthe reception of the blades in substantial register each with the nextand permitting of the mounting or removal of the blades one by one. Thusin operation all the blades are located at substantially the samedistance from the platen and the forward edges of the carbon sheets aresubstantially level with one another. This is of considerable advantage,as. is also the ability to mount or remove the blades one by one.

According to an important subsidiary feature of the invention, thecarbon support has a bladereceiving-socket, superimposed blade slotsacross it for the reception of'the blades in a tier, and locking meansfor locking the blades in their slots. Advantageously, the socket ispierced with at least one hole in the slotted portion thereof, and foreach said hole there is a plunger arranged to transfix the blades whenthe latter are received in said slots.

The foregoing and other features of the inven tion set out in theappended claims are incorporated in the preferred construction now to bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a carbon carrierconstructed in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

The carbon carrier comprises a pressed steel trolley H) which is mountedfor movement towards and away from the carriage of the machine upontrack strips ll, themselves secured to longitudinal members of aframework l2. It will be observed from Fig. 1 that the strip I I thereshown is engaged between two grooved rollers 13 mounted at the undersideof the trolley I 0.

The frame I2 is adapted to be attached at its forward end, by meansindicated at 23, to the carriage of the machine so that it partakes ofthe carriage-traversing movement.

Detachably secured to the trolley It! by means hereinafter describedthere is a pressed steel platform I 5 on which the carbon paper fingersor blades l6 are mounted each in substantial register with the nextabove and/or below it. Near each end the said platform [5 is providedwith a bifurcated metal block indicated generally by the numeral l'i.This metal block has a substantially vertical cleft l8 extending in thedirection of movement of the trolley l0 whereby said block is dividedinto. two upstanding pillars l'l'. At the forward face of each block, i.e., that face which is directed towards the platen, the pillars H arecut across with a suitable number of horizontal slots l9, one above theother. These slots are for the reception of the outer ends of the bladesI6, and the slots in the left hand block are at different levels fromthose in the right-hand block whereby the blades I6 projecting inwardsfrom the two blocks are interleaved or intercalate;

The pillars ll" of each block are each pierced with a vertical hole 20and the outer ends of the blades It are provided with similar holeswhich, when the blades are placed in the slots l9, register with saidholes 20. This permits staple-like or inverted U-shaped keys 2| to bedropped into the holes l9 thereby transfixing the blades It and securingthem in position. It may here :be mentioned that in order to facilitatethe entry of the blades into the slots IS with their holes in registerwith the holes 20, each blade has a button 22 riveted to it to enga e inthe The keys 2| are completely removable frorn the blocks H), butnormally are not so removed. They are releasably retained in "positionby means of spring pressed plungers '24 in the pillars H, whichplungers, when the keys are pressed home, engage recesses cut: in thekeys ata suitable upper level and which, when the keysare pulled upwardsto clear the uppermost blades, engage other recesses cut in the keys at"a suitable lower-level.

It will be appreciated that the above described mountingforcthebladesitdpermitsany of them .to beinserted ,or withdrawn withoutdisturbing the others. For exampleifit is desired-toremove or insertthe.lowermost blade thisis readily effected byraising theappropriate key.2l to the required heightto disengage from theholes in ,said bladewhereupon the blade may be removed from its lock H. or insert theuppermostbladethe appropriaterkey is withdrawn .to its .tfullhe'ig'htwhereupon the blade may be .insertedinto ,or remo.ved..from .its

iblock ,l'l without disturbing the bladesbelowit which remaininposition.

The platform lfi which is provided with a bandle, part of whichfiisshownatliwhereby itmay be moved 'foreeand-a'fton theframe I2.

The forward advance of the trolley i andplatform J5 is cushionedbyleafsprings 30 attached to the connecting means 23 aforesaid, and rearwardmovement is cushioned by a leaf spring3l which is attached totherearedge of the trolley ID to strike againstan adjustablestop-mounted .on one of the track strips I 1. Furthermore, in

order to absorb shock whentabulating the traversing .movements of thecarriage l2 are cushioned by bufier springs '35 associated with thecarriage attachment means .23 aforesaid, the operation of whichbuffersprings will be apparent fromFigure 2.

.Adjustable webrguides ,are provided on the ,platform l5 for determiningthe location of the nut the guide maybe "moved, transversely, and byscrewingthe-nut up the guide may be clamped in the desired position-ofadjustment. Alternatively, the part indicated at 4.6 may be a headintegral with'the spindle 36 and the part .3?

may be a platenut into which the spindle screws. Preferably at the baseof the sleeve 39 a guard *plate! is provided to slide over the uppersurface of the platform I5.

If it'is desired to remove,

In setting up the carrier for use with 'sta- I tionery drawn from acontinuous supply thereof and folded at intermediate points in its Widthinto several 'plies'so as to afford altop copy and the required number,of carbon copies, the mul- J ..tween the successive plies of paper, thefree end of each blade being adjacent to a fold in the paper. Thusconsidering the folds at, for example, the left-hand edge of the web,the

blades l6 are inserted from the right-hand edge of the papersupply. Aseach blade is inserted between the plies of paper it is inserted into as'lotl-9 inthe-appropriate block I? and its button 20 is received in thecleft l8. When all the blades have been thus inserted the keys ii are,presseddown and .theinter-leaved paper and carbons may then be takenaround the platen in the normal manner. As typing proceeds the .paper isdrawnofif from the supply by the rota .tion of the platen andsimultaneously the trolley i0 .and platform 15 are drawn forward on theframe I2. Subsequently when a sufficient length of typinghasbeenproduced (as for example in making out .an invoice) or when thetrolley H] has reached the forward extremity of its advance, the platenis raised to relax the feeding grip on .the paper and carbons and thetrolley is pushed backwards by means of the .handle 25, the carbonssliding back between the plies .of paper.

Although inthe illustrated construction two oppositely-directed sets ofblades I6 are shown. it .is within the scope of the invention toprovicle .a single block I! .or other socket, at one edge of the web,forthe reception of one set of .blades.

I claim:

.1. In a.carbon supportfor a manifolding typewriter, for use in theproduction of a plurality of carbon copies through the medium of carbonsheets interleaved with paper sheets to travel towards .the typewriterplaten: carbon blade mounting means comprising a socket member havingsuperimposed blade slots across it for the reception of the blades in atier; and locking means for locking the blades in said slots and forpermitting their .mountingtherein or removal therefrom one by one.

2. A .carbon support for a manifolding typewriter foruse in theproduction .of a plurality of carbon copies through the medium of carbonsheets .interleaved with paper sheets to travel towards the typewriterplaten, said support having a blade-receiving socket member providedwith means for the reception of carbon blades in a tier with each bladein substantial registry with the next; and locking means for locking the.blades ,to thesocket memberandfor releasing any selected bladeforremoval from the .socket without the removal .of the .remainder of theblades.

3. ,.A carbon support of the type specified .for a manifoldingtypewriter, comprising a blade-re- .ceivingsocket providedwithsuperimposed blade slots across it for the reception of the bladesin .a tiersand withat least-one hole .in the slotted ,portion thereoffor ,thereception of a plunger.

and a plunger arranged to enter said .hole to transfix the .bladeswhen-the latter are received in the .s'lots.

4. A carbon support according to-claim .3, having a cleft in the socket,dividing the latter into two portions spaced lengthwise of the bladesand each having a plunger hole, and blades each having a, projectionthereon for engagement in the cleft.

5. A carbon sheet support of the type specified, for manifoldingtypewriters, having two carbon blade sockets, spaced apart to permit theweb of paper to pass between them, superimposed blade slots in eachsocket for the reception of blades in a tier, the slots in one socketbeing at levels mid-way between the slots in the other socket, andlocking means for locking the blades in their slots.

6. A carbon sheet support of the type specified for manifoldingtypewriters, having two carbon blade sockets, placed apart to permit theweb of paper to pass between them, superimposed blade slots in eachsocket for the reception of blades in a tier, the slots in one socketbeing at levels mid-way between the slots in the other socket, andlocking means for locking blades in their slots and permitting of theirmounting or removal one by one.

7. A carbon support of the type specified for a manifolding typewriter,comprising a blade-receiving socket provided with superimposed bladeslots across it for the reception of the blades in a tier and with twoholes in the slotted portion thereof for the reception of plungers fortransfixing the blades when received in the slots, and two plungersmounted in said holes for movement between a fully inserted position anda position in which they clear all of the slots.

8. A carbon support according to claim 7, having means for retainingeach plunger in each of its two said positions.

C. W. BRUMI-IILL.

